Residential aged care in Australia

Nursing home, aged care home or retirement village

Nursing home, residential aged care and aged care home all describe the same service. The government uses the terms residential aged care and aged care home.

A retirement village is different from an aged care home. A retirement village is housing. It is governed by state and territory retirement village laws, while aged care homes operate under the federal government's aged care laws. Someone can live independently in a retirement village for years without receiving any aged care at all.

What an aged care home provides

Accommodation, everyday living support such as meals and laundry, personal care such as help with showering and dressing, and clinical care including nursing.

Homes also operate under care minutes requirements, which set a minimum average amount of direct care time per resident per day across the home, including time from a registered nurse. Those requirements feed into the staffing component of the star ratings system, so they are worth asking about directly on a tour.

Who can enter

Permanent residential care requires a comprehensive assessment through the single assessment system. An aged care needs assessor considers the person's health, how they are managing day to day, what support already exists, and whether residential care is appropriate.

Approval does not choose a home for you. It establishes eligibility. Finding an aged care home that meets your needs is a separate step.

See how to get an aged care assessment for the full process and the current waiting stages.

What it costs

Four separate charges, and they work differently from each other.

The basic daily fee is set at 85% of the single basic Age Pension. For people on the 1 November 2025 fee arrangements, clinical care is fully government funded and they are not asked to contribute to it. Under the older arrangements, the means tested care fee can go towards the cost of care, including clinical care.

Current dollar amounts are on our aged care costs page rather than here, because they are indexed twice a year and we would rather maintain them in one place.

The November 2025 split, and why entry date matters

For most people entering permanent care from 1 November 2025, the old means tested care fee was replaced by two separate contributions: a hotelling contribution towards everyday living costs, and a non-clinical care contribution. People who were receiving or approved for a Home Care Package on or before 12 September 2024 stay on the older fee arrangements unless they opt in. The non-clinical care contribution stops when the lifetime cap is reached, or after four years of payment, whichever happens first.

People who were already in permanent residential care on 31 October 2025 stayed on the older arrangements, including the means tested care fee and its caps.

Choosing a home

Think about location. Regular visits are easier when the home is close.

Beyond that, look at whether the home has genuine experience with the specific needs involved: dementia, cultural or language needs, or palliative care.

Star Ratings help you compare the quality of care at aged care homes and build a shortlist. Read the four component ratings rather than the overall number, and pay particular attention to compliance. Under the compliance rating method used before November 2025, a non-compliance finding did not move the rating until formal regulatory action was taken, so a home with an open non-compliance could still show a good compliance rating. The compliance rating was redesigned from 1 November 2025 and is being phased in as homes are graded, and our guide to the Quality Standards explains the new approach.

See how star ratings work for what each component measures and where the system falls short. If dementia is part of the picture, our guide to dementia care options covers secure units and what to ask about them.

Our questions to ask a provider page covers what to ask on the day.

From approval to moving in

The steps are an aged care assessment, then finding an aged care home and giving it your referral code, alongside a means assessment to work out what you will pay.

For people entering on or after 1 November 2025, there is no fixed deadline to choose between a lump sum, a daily payment or a combination. A home cannot ask for accommodation payments before entry. A lump sum can be paid at any time once the means assessment is finalised, and daily payments apply until the lump sum is paid.

See RAD or DAP for how those payments work and what changed in November 2025. If a hospital is pushing for a quick decision, read going from hospital to aged care first. Still deciding between a village and a care home? See retirement village vs aged care.

Rights, and what to do if something goes wrong

Residents are covered by the Statement of Rights under the Aged Care Act 2024, which replaced the Charter of Aged Care Rights on 1 November 2025.

Concerns can be raised with the provider directly, or with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822. Free independent advocacy is available through OPAN on 1800 700 600.

See complaints and your rights for the process and what the regulator can actually do.

Frequently asked